MXGP Trentino – 24MX Honda Racing Pressrelease

Expect the unexpected

Race report MXGP Round 4 – Trentino, Arco di Trento

Whether it was the epic setting of the majestic mountains in scenic Trentino or the heroic start of race day with wingsuit skydivers jumping from the sky accompanied by Italian opera, drama was in the air at Arco di Trento. 24MX Honda’s Christope Charlier showed good speed but his potential was marred on Sunday by too many incidents. In spite of relatively little experience on slick hard-pack terrain Filip Bengtsson put in two solid rides to claim 10 well-deserved championship points.
A late reaction at the gate and a crashed threesome in front of him wrecked Charlier’s chances in the first moto. However Christophe but his head down and steered his CRF450R from dead last to 16th. Team mate Bengtsson had an ok start. After struggling in the qualification race the fast Swede looked much more comfortable and circulated in 16th for most of the race. Only in the final stages Filip salvaged that position to a charging Charlier.

Starting well in the second moto, in 8th spot was a good sign for Bengtsson. The 24MX Honda Racing rider lost a couple of positions early, yet found a steady rhythm and stayed consistent to finish 15th behind home rider Alessandro Lupino. From a mid-pack position early on “CC23” gradually improved to catch up to 12th after 17 minutes of racing. When setting up an attack on Tommy Searle the Frenchman made a mistake and went down. Unable to continue Christophe pulled out of the race.

Filip Bengtsson:“Saturday was difficult. The hard pack soil with the small stones on top make it tricky here. I was struggling a bit with confidence and the bike setup. We hung in there and managed to turn things around for Sunday. In both motos I felt a lot better so with my background and a lot less experience than most guys at this level on tracks like these my speed was decent. I want to continue to improve on hard pack throughout the season. Special thanks to the team for their work this weekend, our suspension technician Moose from Kayaba and my riding coach Tonny Govers who helped me well preparing for this first European race.”

Christophe Charlier: “We had some positive points this weekend because the feeling on the bike was good. Still I’m disappointed with myself and the final results. In the first moto I had to come back from way behind, I could make good progress until I started to struggle with arm pump. In the end I finished 16th. My start was not good in the second race but recovered well and I was fighting for 11th place when I touched Searle. I lost a lot of places, and couldn’t continue because I hurt my foot. It’s frustrating because even 7th was in reach.”